To the End
by queenofowls
Summary: The weight on Byleth's finger makes her heart flutter, remembering Dedue's words as he asked to marry her. But reality sets in as Seteth reminds her that she's holding a heavy secret in her heart about the nature of her existence and that, amongst other things, her future husband deserves to know that his wife just might live forever without him... [Dedue/f!Byleth]


Consciously or unconsciously, she's tried to hide it from Seteth, the long robes of the Archbishop covering her sleeves and wrists whenever he came by-but one wrong angle in the light of the Star Terrace and, unable to help himself, he reaches out to catch Byleth's hand. When he sees that lies on her finger, Seteth's gaze raises to meet hers, a smile on his lips.

"I can presume the lucky man, considering how much time you've spent gazing at the new Captain whenever the knights of Seiros meet. Congratulations, Archbishop. I'm certain Dedue is pleased that you return his affections." Byleth smiles, starting to pull her hand away as Seteth's eyes fill with curiosity. "You are a very special existence, Byleth, and as happy as I am, I hope he is prepared for the challenges." She freezes, her hand still in his, but Seteth doesn't notice, musing conversationally. "How did he react when you told him of Sothis?"

His eyes move to search hers but Byleth avoids them entirely, her gaze flickering across the terrace to look anywhere but at him.

Seteth's eyebrows furrow. "...Byleth? Why aren't you answering?" He stares in her direction, her refusal to answer filling him with dread. Remembering herself, Byleth tries to pull away- but he grips her wrist and pulls her closer, horror etching into his face. "_What have you done?_ Surely you know that if you intend on sharing your life with someone, you must tell them about Sothis!"

Byleth wrenches her wrist away, glaring at him. "I'm not Flayn, Seteth. You can't control me." Seteth refuses to be distracted by the jab.

"You are _not_ Flayn, no, because she would never indulge so foolishly without letting her partner at least know what their future awaits them." He glares at her with equal fire. "Archbishop, I thought better of you. You _dare_ you run away from this?" Byleth doesn't reply, staring blankly at the engagement ring in her finger. "Captain Molinaro has left _everything_-his liege, the rebuilding of his land, his people, everything to please you, and you haven't the decency to tell him who and what you are?" She angles her hand, guilt catching her throat as she eyes the small stone glinting in the light of the advisory room. "I'm summoning him to the war council room, Byleth, and you are going to tell him who you are _in totality_. You are going to tell him that you are effectively immortal and that you hold the Beginning in your heart. _And_," he grits his teeth, "if he cannot accept it, return him to Fhirdiad back to his liege."

Byleth whispers, more to the ring than in response to Seteth. "He would never."

Seteth's expression grows critical.

"Let your actions _show_ that you believe that." Byleth doesn't answer as Seteth steps away. "And if he is unaware by this time tomorrow, I will tell him myself."

The star terrace is a beautiful place, two twin pools filled with water lilies carefully tended by Cyril. A beautiful place under a beautiful sky... and yet Byleth can only feel rottenness in her bones. She imagines him stepping away, looking at her with alien eyes.

_"You deceived me...?"_

It isn't fair. He just returned to her alive to risk losing him like this is...

She murmurs to herself. "Why must I test him in this way?"

...And, actually, she can almost hear Seteth's curt reply in her head.

_'Because it is the right thing to do, Byleth.'_

And he is right. A marriage built on lies... is not the kind of union she imagines for herself and Dedue. Heart heavy, she leaves the terrace and sets off for the second floor.

Her hands tremble as Byleth tries her best to still them in her lap. She sits in the council room alone, heart pounding as she hears the heavy pair of feet approaching the war council room. Dedue bursts through the doors, his expression grim. _He knows_, she thinks. _He knows and he will make me pay for deceiving him._

But as soon as his expression lights on Byleth, his expression shifts to one of surprise.

"Byleth?" His steps slow as he approaches her seat at the table. "Are you..." He trails off, his eyes lighting her for injuries.

"I'm not hurt." Byleth's tone is carefully measured, her breaths shallow as she struggles for the strength to speak. She would do anything rather than have this conversation. She would rather face an army than have this conversation. She would rather face Edelgard again than have this conversation. Unaware of her racing thoughts, Dedue peers into her face, concern alight in his eyes.

"Why meet here, then? Is it... a mission for me? Seteth said it was important that I see you immediately." Her lips are dry as she gestures to the space beside her.

"Just one." Gingerly, Dedue obeys, taking a seat, the concern lighting in his deep green eyes shifting into curiosity.

"Dedue. I am..." she trails off, looking down at her lap for a long moment.

_Just say it._

_I am a vessel of the goddess Sothis. I am half-human... the other half is the homunculus who was my mother, created by Rhea as a vessel who failed to bond._

"I'm..." She looks up, her hand lighting on her stomach to calm the butterflies within as she meets his eyes. Dedue's eyes grow wide as he follows her falling and rising gazes. Slowly, he reaches out, his hand covering hers.

"Byleth?" His voice is strangely breathless. "Are you...?" He glances as her belly in wonder, his face suddenly burning scarlet. "Are you with child?"

Her cheeks flood with color.

"What."

He pulls his hand away quickly. "Am I wrong?"

"Yes! I mean, no, I'm not... er, no."

"Oh, I... I see." He sounds almost disappointed as he sits back reluctantly. "Then what is it?" Byleth can scarcely speak, her face still hot.

"It's just that I..." The way she trails off leaves them gazing at each other. It's only then that he realizes... just how close they are. He can see the flush on her pale cheeks, the bright spring green in her large crystal clear eyes, the way she is looking at him and through him, drawing ever closer and closer... his eyes flutter, moistening his lips as he prepares himself to kiss her.

Byleth leans in slowly, their mouths touching lightly, and then not lightly at all. They kiss slowly, Dedue's fingers trailing to the underside of her chin as he leans into the softness of her mouth. He feels his heartbeat slowing and then speeding up, his feeling for Byleth stirring in his stomach as they forget exactly why they've come to meet for just a moment. When he pulls away, both of them look away, embarrassment clear on their faces. To her surprise, he's the first to speak.

"It's... it's been a while."

A few days, actually. Byleth draws away slightly, face still tinged with color. She hastily thinks to change the topic, but immediately regrets it, her brain grasping the wrong subject. "How could you think I am with child? We've never... ah..." She trails off as Dedue nods slightly, the corners of his lips lifting imperceptibly.

"No... not yet, no." There's a moment where she just looks at him, heart thrumming in her throat, but he seems not to notice, continuing quietly. "But there's been five years between us and even more time since we reunited. It is not impossible for another to have captured your attention in that time..." He clears his throat, running his hand along his hair. "I... I suppose your five were spent in a coma though, so perhaps the timing would be slim but... not impossible." He looks at her earnestly. "It wouldn't matter. I would still care for any child of yours as my own."

_Dedue, I love you._

The words wash over her as he speaks with absolute finality, his expression open and honest.

Yes... this is the man she's chosen. A man who deserves the truth because he lives by it so unabashedly. Who deserves the truth because she loves him.

"Dedue." The seriousness in her tone makes him straighten. "I am... a vessel for the goddess, Sothis." Her eyes flicker down, but the reminder that she loves him-that he loves her-makes her force her gaze back towards him. Dedue stares at her silently, his deep green eyes waiting. They light on her calmly, wrapping her in the warmth in their gaze. It spurns her on to keep the words tumbling off of her lips. "Sothis and I are one. She's not in the heavens, she's in my heart, somehow. Before she was just a presence alongside me-even she didn't know who she truly was, but... as time went one, we figured it out. Now... our souls are one. We joined on the day when... when-"

He gestures at her hair, his first physical reaction since she's begun spinning the tale. "The day you cut through the sky. The day Captain Jeralt..." She nods silently in reply, unable to continue for a moment. Dedue's gaze intensifies. Then, gingerly, he reaches out to gather her hands in his. "Why are you telling me this?" He lowers his tone, steel in his voice. "Tell me, Byleth. Is your life in danger? Surely you know that I will face any who oppose you, no matter how many."

"I'm not in danger, Dedue. But... but you don't know what you've asked to marry! There's just so much about me that you don't know, that I can't even begin to explain!"

He lets her outburst wash over him. His response is simple, tone light. "I see. Then I will work hard to unravel your mystery over time." Then, to her surprise, Dedue reaches out slowly to cup her cheek, but she draws away from his touch.

"No, you _don't_. People will notice that I'm not aging and they will ask questions. Edelgard... she wasn't the only one who hated the goddess and blamed her for this world, Dedue. I will be a target." She balls her hands into fists, gathering bunches of white fabric into her hands. Dedue nods. She is correct.

"Then when the times comes, I will accompany you."

"Dedue...?" She allows him to touch her, to comfort her. Her eyes meet his, the irises shaking as she manages a whisper. "But we won't grow old together."

As he touches her, Dedue draws her forward to press a promise to her forehead with soft, tender lips. He pulls back to meet her eyes. "I will follow you anywhere you go." The statement is straightforward and earnest, everything that she wants to hear... but somehow it is almost worst than rejection.

She rests as Dedue's hands try their best to soothe her heart, but inside she feels tangled and twisted in an inexpressible way. "It isn't fair."

His voice is low, soft. "What isn't?" She meets his eyes.

"You are willing to sacrifice so much and even with all of my power, I can't even say the same, that I'll follow you everywhere, Dedue. Because I... I can't follow you into grave."

"Then we should enjoy the time we have together." The earnest way he looks at her... it almost makes her want to cry. He cups her cheek as though he senses her untempered anguish.

"Do my words not soothe you?" Byleth shakes her head, her eyes shaking. His gaze shifts down to Byleth's hand, to the ring, the promise he'd given her. "Byleth... do you still want to marry me?" Byleth's eyes widen in shock but Dedue continues steadily. "I... do not wish to burden you, so if you wish to dismiss me from the monastery..." He pulls her face upwards to look into her eyes. "Say the word, Archbishop." His voice is soft. "I will go."

She knows that she should pull away and let him live his human life... but she hesitates for a moment. As she looks into the stormy green eyes, she pushes out of her seat and presses herself into his arms, instead seeking comfort in the sound arms of Dedue. How could a space so precious not last forever? How could they hold an inevitable future that would have them wrinkle and shrivel and quiver with age? She hates the idea but... in just five years, Dedue had already changed so much. As guaranteed as the sun setting, it will happen.

"Go, Dedue." She says the word, but... her body refuses to comply, clinging to him desperately. "I can't force that kind of life on you."

Dedue's eyes widen with surprise before his gaze softens. He wraps his arms around her and holds her, his hands brushing up and down her back in soothing strokes. Her face against his chest, his voice rumbles in and around her, filling her with the painful warmth of his mortal sound and smell. "For all of my endeavors, it is still me that burdens you." She looks up at him in alarm.

"No." Her voice is soft but firm, but he shakes his head.

"Byleth, you agreed to marry me once, but... I see now. If you marry me, you will have to carry the burden of burying me as well." He strokes her cheek with his thumb. "That is not a decision I need to have the strength to make." Byleth buries her face into Dedue's chest. _It's unfair._ "I told you once that I adore you. Even if you dismiss me, my feelings will never change. But I would never ask you to bury me." Byleth looks at the man before her, his expression passive and waiting. Even now he is absolutely at her mercy, ready to follow. Even now, he looks to her as if his happiness of not also on the line.

"Dedue..." She strokes his face and draws him forward. It will hurt, she knows. The sting of her father tells her that it will hurt for a long time, when she buries him. But... not as much as burying him without the warmth of memories from many years spent together to keep her warm and going on. She rests her forehead. "I don't know if I am strong enough to bury you, but I'll do my best if you'll have me."

Dedue places his hand over hers, eyes dark as a storming sea. "I'll always have you. As long as I shall live." Byleth holds him tight and pretends that his words means forever.


End file.
